Memories of a Dream
by no1willrememberthisname
Summary: Broken Strings sequel. Takes place a few months after the end of Broken Strings. How far would you go to protect your family? How about hell itself? M for safety, may be adult situations and or gore.
1. Chapter 1

Warning! Adult situation ahead! Right here! No read-y if you're under fifteen-y! Skip the first three paragraphs if you aren't comfortable with adult situations!

Disclaimer: don't own final fantasy 13 blah blah blah most characters not mine yada yada yada only own the plot ideas etc. etc. etc.

Right-o, let's go!

\Memories/

Serah stood outside her big sister's room, her hand raised to knock on the door. Snow was hidden at the bottom of the stairs, where he could make a break for safety if necessary. Serah steeled herself and knocked on the door, before opening it. She recoiled in horror.

Lightning moaned, which made Fang moan, which made Lightning moan, which made…you get the idea. Serah looked in at her sister in that position with another woman. She was fine with her sister being gay, and she was happy with her choice of partner, but those two did it like rabbits on Viagra. Worst of all they were still going, even though she was in the room.

Lightning heard someone cough and at that moment in time, discovered there is no way to remove your mouth from your lover's vagina with any nonchalance to talk to your sister who walked in on you. "Do you mind?"

Serah blushed and darted out of the room. Snow threw her a thumbs up from his hiding place. She responded with a shake of her head. Snow looked worried for a second, then took off running. The bedroom door opened and Lightning walked out, fully dressed. It was phenomenal how fast she did that.

"What is it Serah?" She asked. Serah's nose wrinkled at the smell of sex, it hit her like a wall of bricks. Serah had a dilemma here. She could break the news gently, allowing time for Snow to run. Or she could tell Claire as quickly as possible to get it over with, like ripping off a plaster.

"Light? I'm pregnant."

Serah let out a sigh of relief, her husband was going to be fine and Claire wasn't going mental. She was just going to stare at her like that, with no emotion, and now her eye was going to twitch a few times. Look at that fist clench and unclench, Serah thought, I bet she's practicing tickling for when the baby arrives, so that she can be a good aunt. Aww, she's even picked up her gunblade, I bet she's going to baby proof it. Oh, hey a book of baby names, I bet's she's hung onto that for a long time. There's even a fake cover on it to hide it. I wonder why it had to say _10,000 ways to kill Snow_?

Then it clocked in Serah's head. "No. No! Nononono! Claire, you are not going to kill my husband." Serah grabbed Lightning's arm, but was shaken off. "You don't want the baby to grow up without a father, do you?"

Lightning growled and Fang, dressed in a bed sheet, stuck her head out of the door to see what was going on. Serah jumped and grabbed onto Lightning's leg. Nothing she did seemed to slow her sister down, she was unstoppable.

\Memories/

"…and that's how I say we should deal with bullies." Snow finished. He had really taken to his job of Community Support Officer. His favourite part was working with the children, and now he was going to have one of his own. "Any questions?"

"I have one." Snow turned to the side of the stage to see Lightning limping towards him. The reason for her limp became quickly apparent as the still clinging on Serah came into view.

"I'm sorry Snow, I tried to stop her." Serah cried. The children thought this was part of the presentation.

Lightning jumped forwards, out of her sister's grip. Snow wasn't ready for the first punch, which winded him and bent him double. As he bent over her knee rose up to meet him, his nose squashed and broke with a crack. He screamed in pain as blood flowed freely down his face. Lightning grabbed the back of his coat and swung him round. Snow fell to the floor with a thump.

"Talk to the bully!" The children cheered, oblivious to the fact he was in pain and this wasn't part of the presentation.

He moaned in pain. "Light? Why are you doing this?" He already had a feeling that he knew exactly why he was taking this beating.

Lightning dived on top of him, straddling his chest. He saw the fists come flying, the sunlight glinting on the metal of her left glove. The knuckle duster hurt really badly. The sharp metal tore right through the skin of his cheek, and Snow had to wonder who thought it would be a good idea to give Lightning, a woman who could go 0 to furious in 0.31 seconds, pieces of metal to put on her gloves so they would hurt more.

"You got my baby sister PREGNANT!" she screamed at him as she continued pummelling him viciously. Snow's massive arms managed to wedge themselves between his face and her fists so they were protecting his head, so Lightning simply beat them.

The children were hoping in their seats, the excitement becoming too much for them to handle. "Get help!" They cried. "Get help!" At least Snow's talk had soaked in.

"Serah!" He cried. "Help me!"

Serah dashed over and tried to pull Lightning off, but it was like a kitten trying to move a tiger. Not going to happen. Lightning was too strong for Serah, and the only reason Serah was still conscious was that Lightning would never harm her baby sister.

"Stand up to the bully!" The children screamed. It was all one big pantomime to them, something to get involved with. Their teacher was frantically trying to get them to calm down, as well as contact some kind of help.

Lightning powered her fist at Snow's meaty arm, and his guard broke. Her other fist, the left, flew right towards Snow's head. He grabbed it out of the air. Her right fist tried to hit his solar plexus, but Snow managed to grab that one as well. The brawler let out a sigh of relief. It was over.

Lightning however had other plans. She grinned, bloodlust in her eyes and jerked her head forwards, impacting on Snow's already broken nose. He howled in pain and fell to the floor, holding his face. Victory was Lightning's.

Snow looked up at his sister-in-law and watched as she lined herself up. One heavy boot was raised above his head and Snow closed his eyes. The drop never came, so he looked up cautiously. Now Serah was stood over him, his guardian angel, whose harp was a metal chair with a dent in it. He must have been delirious from blood loss. No way would Serah do that.

\Memories/

Fang nearly tripped on the stairs, like she did every day. It was that step right at the top, slightly higher than all the others and it caught her foot every time. For Makersake, she was an elite huntress, death in the darkness, she wasn't supposed to trip on the same stair every time.

Slipping into Lightning's bedroom, Fang began to strip off for a bath. As she carefully unwrapped her Sari, she looked around the spartan room. Everyone lost many of their possessions after she and Vanille crystallised the entirety of Cocoon, but at least they had been able to salvage some of their belongings from their former home. Even Serah had managed to persuade Snow to go up there and bring her belongings, but Lightning had nothing. The only personal effects in Lightning's bedroom were the bed with heavily scratched headboard, a picture of her and Serah on the beach and her wardrobe. There wasn't even a carpet on the floor.

As she tugged her halter top off, Fang ran the conversation of moving in with Lightning through in her head. At best Lightning would openly welcome the idea, and they could move in. Then again, Lightning liked her space and might not want Fang to move in. Sometimes, Fang felt that Lightning just made up these personal problems just to see how far she could push her.

Wrapping a towel around her body, Fang left Lightning's room and made her way to the bathroom. She rapped her knuckles on the door, her curiosity piqued when it opened. She was sure Lightning had already come up, but she had a thing about her privacy. Serah had been trained by Lightning to lock every door she came across and Snow was still downstairs getting Serah to treat his boo-boos. He was such a cry-baby, he broke every bone in his arm without a word when they were l'Cie. Fang's hand rested on the door for a moment, wondering if she should go in, within a second her decision was made and she pushed. Her heart stopped.

Faster than she had ever moved before, Fang was beside the bathtub and pulling Lightning out. The pinkette hit the floor with a wet slap, but gave no sign that she realised she'd been thrown to the floor unceremoniously. She did nothing at all. Fang looked at her chest for any sign of movement. Lightning wasn't breathing.

Fang placed her hands on Lightning's chest and pressed. Again. Again. Again. Again. She was sure Lightning's ribcage would snap with the force she was pushing on them with. Fang pressed her lips against Lightning's and exhaled, barely remembering how to do this through the haze of panic and fear in her mind. Fang pulled her lips from Lightning's and placed her hands on her chest. Again and again she pressed, hoping it wasn't too late.

Her reward was a cough and a shove to the side as Lightning's well-honed instincts kicked in and she pushed away the potential threat. Another cough brought up gouts of water from Lightning's lungs that dribbled down her face. In between coughs and splutters Lightning managed to grind out "Damn it Fang."

\Memories/

"I guess I owe you two an explanation, huh?" Lightning said sheepishly. Serah and Fang had cornered her in her room, wearing identical expressions of anger and worry. Cornered wasn't really the word for it, ambushed fit the situation better. Lightning was now sat on the bed with the pointy end of Fang's spear inches from her stomach while Serah inexpertly held Lightning's BlazeFire in its gun form.

"Why would you do that Claire? You're my only real family left now, the only person I can rely on."

"What about Snow?" Lightning asked, raising an eyebrow. Had she managed to turn Serah away from her husband after all this time?

Serah sighed. "Snow tries, you know that. But he isn't always grounded like you are, sometimes he loses focus of what's important and what's not." Serah stiffened and resumed the stony look. "But that doesn't get you off the hook, Claire. Why did you nearly drown yourself?"

"I guess I should start at the beginning. Back when the Maker created the world-"

"What does this have to do with you trying to get a one way ticket out of the land of the living?" Fang interrupted.

"Everything, Fang. Back when the Maker created the world, she created the humans and the fal'Cie to watch over them. As you know the fal'Cie had specific tasks to perform to maintain the world, like provide food or create new species. The fal'Cie resented their roles and began to revolt. The Maker intervened and stopped the revolt, binding the fal'Cie so they couldn't do so again." Lightning paused to catch her breath. "The four leaders of the revolt could not be left in the world, they were too dangerous."

"How were they too dangerous, Claire?" Serah asked, the gun drooping to point at the floor.

"They had been through…The Doorway." There was a flash of lightning and the crash of thunder.

Fang set down her spear. This story was so farfetched it was hard to believe, yet something about it resonated in Fang's soul. "The Doorway being the same thing the fal'Cie were hoping to open?"

"Yes. These four fal'Cie went through The Doorway, and came out changed and twisted. They were opposites of what they were supposed to do. Victus had been a food bearer, now he ruins it. He kills the crops, boils the water dry, or so the legend says. Sanitas healed the sick, now where he went disease was sure to follow. Venator was patron of hunters, her followers became a war loving people, uncaring about who they killed, as long as it was in her name. Finally there was Morbis." Lightning finished.

"…who became Death?" Serah asked tenderly. Lightning nodded.

"I don't get it." Fang said simply. " And I don't get how it fits to you trying to drown yourself."

"Fang, all but one of those fal'Cie have returned at some point, the most recent one was Venator during the War of Transgression. The last one to return would bring around the end of the world." Lightning finished dramatically. There was no thunder crash this time.

"So why kill yourself?"

"I needed to get into Death's Domain, and kill it there before it could come into the world. You heard what that nutjob that tried to kill you said. He was trying to return his master to the world. I will not have my niece growing up in a world where that thing could come back."

Serah tilted her head to one side curiously. "What makes you think it'll be a girl?"

"Trust me, Serah, it'll be a girl or my name isn't Lightning."

Serah giggled. "Your name isn't Lightning. It's Claire; you renamed yourself Lightning but never filled out any of the paperwork to make it legal."

"Shut up you and get to bed." Lightning said, sticking her tongue out. This childish display made Serah giggle again and Fang smirk. The younger Farron walked out of the her sister's room, not realising she was still holding the gunblade. Fang turned to look at Lightning.

"You're not telling us something." She accused. "I want to know."

"I'll tell you later. I need Serah to deal with that bombshell first."

Fang simply stared right into Lightning's eyes to make her slightly uncomfortable, a trick she had picked up from the soldier herself. "You'd better be tell us, or Maker help me I will be very angry."

"Quiet you, and come to bed." Lightning purred softly.

"I'm not a little kid anymore, Light." Fang whined.

Lightning smirked as she patted the bed next to her. "Come on, into bed with you." Fang climbed in and lay perfectly still as Lightning pulled up the covers and tucked her in. "I'm going to tell you a little story, Fang. It starts when a little girl, called Claire, goes down to the beach with her family…"

Even as Lightning carried on talking, Fang felt her eyes close. She loved the stories about Lightning and her family. A strange look would cross her face. Happiness bleeding through memory, and longing. Longing for that life to have never ended and the transformation to Lightning have begun. Lightning didn't notice the mischievous smile on Fang's face as she recalled the other, less flattering stories Serah had told her about Lightning mainly during the nights at the hospital while they desperately clung to the hope that Light would wake up.

\Memories/

_Lightning recoiled at the pungent breath of the Beast. The bottom jaw opened and lowered over her head. Lightning pushed against the massive paw on her chest that was pinning her to the ground to no avail. The thing was simply too heavy. There was a deafening bang and the Beast was pushed off Lightning's chest. It threw back its head and roared. A second bang and it lay on the ground, a hole where its chest had been. Lightning pushed herself off the ground with her good arm and looked for her saviour. Lebreau saluted the soldier from her perch and released the spent cartridge from her rifle._

_Lightning bent down to pick up her gunblade from where it had been knocked out of her hand by the Beast. A trickle of blood ran from the gash on her leg as she stumbled over the rubble of the former town. They seemed to have beaten off the Shadows, and now people were combing the ruins of their lives for survivors, valuables, anything useful. Lightning felt someone walk up behind her. "How many did we lose?"_

_Rygdea smiled grimly. "Less than we thought we would. Still, it was too many. What were those things?"_

"_Shadows." Lightning answered curtly. She was exhausted beyond measure and worried about Fang._

_Rygdea nodded, even though he couldn't possibly have known what she really meant. "Where did they come from? We need to hunt them down and finish them off before they attack again."_

_Lightning raised her arm, ignoring the protest of fatigued muscles. "Through that."_

\Memories/

Fang cracked open one eye, but made no other movements. There was a bang of metal hitting wood in the darkness and a soft curse. Fang took that as her cue to flick on the light beside the bed and sit up. There had never been such a literal case of 'deer in the headlights' look. Lightning was crouched over a pack, pair of underwear halfway through being shoved into the pack, now looking between the door and the window, deciding which one would get her away fastest before Fang realised what was going on. "This isn't what you think." She said, still looking at the window. There was a tree right outside, she could dive through, swing on the branch, do a few flips and land perfectly on the grass. Fang'd be so stunned se wouldn't know what to do.

"Really, what're you doing then?"

"I'm packing. We're…going on a surprise holiday tomorrow!" She said, her eyes never leaving the window. Fang groaned at the terrible excuse.

"You're not planning on running away because you're afraid of commitment?" Fang smiled at her deviousness. Time to kill two chocobos with one stone.

Lightning glared at Fang at the mention of her being afraid of anything. iNstantly she rose to the bait. "I'm not afraid of commitment."

"Fine, so when will I move in then, is tomorrow good for you?" Lightning missed the predatory look that graced Fang's features.

"NO! You can't!" She shouted waving her arms wildly.

"And why not? We've been going out for the last four months, this is the next step for us."

Lightning saw the hurt look that Fang had carefully orchestrated on her face and felt her heart break a tiny bit. "You can't tomorrow because I won't be her-we won't be here. The holiday, remember."

Fang dropped the mask instantly, going onto the offensive to keep Light off balance. "Can the crap, where are you going? Tell me, or I might accidentally let slip your little pet name to Serah at breakfast."

"No, please!" Lightning whimpered at the thought of the embarrassing name.

"Tell me now, Light, or I'll make sure that Snow's there too."

"I was going through The Doorway."

\Memories/

*Ring Ring*

Hello? Is that Mr Cliffhanger? Sure I'd love to put you in my story. Yeah right at the end of the chapter sounds fine. Okay, bye.

Actually, that's longer than most of my phone calls last in real life. I say what needs to be said and hang up. Simple.

Don't worry the next chapter will be even longer, but it will take time to write. Also, I'm looking for a beta reader. Can you believe I never had a beta? Simply send me a message if you want the dubious honour of being my beta. This will not be first come first served, nor will submissions in the review section be accepted. Be warned, preferential treatment will be a part of the process. If I have read your stories and found them to be enjoyable I will be more likely to choose you, sorry if I haven't got round to reading your stuff yet, I'm a bit backlogged, still reading the reviewers of Without You. Don't worry slipsour, I'll get onto you eventually.

Right so, cliff hanger CHECK, beta reader CHECK, blatant promotion time NOPE,

Okay read the following people's stuff: EVERYONE!

Seriously, just go onto the reviews and click on the top most person. Do it. Find something new to read. Expand your horizons. Tickle the sleeping Dragon. Wake the sleeping dog. What's the worst that could happen to you? You find a story you don't like? Simple. Click on a new person and carry on reading.

To the three people that could be bothered to actually reach this bit, farewell!


	2. Chapter 2

Uh, I'm sorry it took so long? But hey! I managed it to get this out didn't I?

I don't own the characters. I'm just borrowing them to entertain you.

\Memories of a Dream/

"The what?"

"The Doorway." Lightning repeated.

"I understood you, I merely didn't believe what you were saying." Fang ran her hand through her hair. "How would you even find it? Scratch that, you wouldn't find it, it's a legend, it's made up. It's. Not. Real."

Lightning had the decency to look abashed. "I saw it in a dream…"

"You saw it in a dream and thought it was okay to just run off without even a goodbye? Lightning, we all have dreams. Damn, I was having a good one involving me, you and a bottle of strawberry sauce that was going rather well, before you woke me." Fang pulled the smaller woman into a hug, loving how her head rested just on top of Lightning's. There was very little between their heights, you would think they were the same size if they were stood next to someone like Vanille.

"I'm sorry Fang." Lightning mumbled into Fang's neck. "I just…needed to do something."

"Care to share?"

"In the morning, when Serah's here. I don't want to explain twice." Lightning gently manoeuvred them to the bed. "Why don't you tell me about your dream?"

Fang grinned.

\Memories/

Serah wandered into the kitchen, barely awake. Her hair was scruffily thrown into a pony tail until she'd had a shower and she was wearing a dressing gown with smiling pink bunnies sewn on it. It had been Lightning's, but after their parent's deaths Lightning had been quick to throw away anything that marked her as a child or tied her to her previous identity of Claire. Serah on the other hand, had tried to salvage anything that reminded her of her sister, and so the bunny dressing gown lived on.

"Serah."

"M'nin' 'Laire." She yawned and reached to press the switch for the kettle. As she stretched out a cup of coffee was pressed into her hand. "'anks." She yawned again.

"We need to talk." Lightning said. Serah cast her sister a look through sleepy eyes, barely noticing the uncomfortable look on her sister's face.

"Wassup, Claire?" She said, the caffeine in her system kicking in. Now she noticed her sister was sat down at the table. Not a good sign. The large whiteboard from the cellar had been dragged up. Not a good sign. Lightning was up before she was on her day off. Definitely not a good sign. Deeply uncomfortable look and a blush of Lightning's face. Sign of the Apocalypse.

"We need to have 'The Talk'." The inverted commas clanged around the two words like a hammer on steel. Generation upon generation has heard those two words and ran for the hills in fear. It was right up there with 'Hey, babe? We need to talk.'

Serah dived for the back door, to find it was locked. She tried the window as well, again to see her escape route was blocked. There was only the door behind Light, escape was beyond her grasp. Reluctantly, Serah sat down to face the sheer embarrassment. At least Lightning looked as uncomfortable as she was.

\Memories/

Serah sat up in bed with a start, sweat pouring from her face. Thankfully she had woken before the nightmare had gone any further. She did not want to relive two hours of 'The Talk' from Lightning. No one else had a sister who was stuck in the 'boys are icky' stage. The signs of her sister's tendencies were all there, she was a hard hitting soldier with naturally pink hair that went around in a cape for Makerssake, it was too bad it took them both so long to realise Lightning's gayness. It took Fang all of two minutes to realise it, and four days to bring it out. A couple of months to get in on it.

Serah wiped her head with a towel she had left on the floor from her last bath, patting away the damp patches. She then put on her dressing gown, her hands tracing the worn bunnies sewn into the fabric. It was odd that this was getting too small for Lightning when she was barely a teenager, yet Serah was still dwarfed by it.

"We need to talk." Serah nearly dropped her coffee, she hadn't seen her sister sat at the table, and this was oddly reminiscent of her dream. She could be at the back door in three seconds but that was likely to be locked. The window never locked properly, and she could be there in four seconds. If push came to shove there were the kitchen knives in the holder on the side. If she threw one she may have enough time to make a break for it. Lightning didn't seem to have a weapon, bet Serah knew her sister was more than accomplished at hand to hand combat, so she'd need to take the big meat clever and attack quickly, get first blood so to speak. "Relax, Serah, it's not that bad."

"Not that bad? You were ready to run away this morning." Serah, in her haze of panic and planning of her escape, hadn't notice Fang next to her sister. This was either very good, or very bad.

"Claire, what's wrong?" Serah asked, looking into her sisters eyes for her tell-tale give, a small twitch of her right eye. "Are you sick?"

"No." No twitch. "Look Serah I didn't tell you everything last night. That was just the start of the story. Remember when that psycho Eath took you hostage? He said that his master gave him the power to kill me. His master was Morbis." Serah had been watching carefully, there had been no twitches of her eye, the only tell her sister had. Even then that was only when she was talking to Serah, she was fine lying to anyone else.

"What are you saying Claire?"

"Good question pint-size, what are you saying?"

Lightning smiled grimly. "Morbis is trying to kill me."

"Why? Why you? There're so many other people that could be its target, why does it have to be you?" Fang asked.

"Morbis cannot become free as long as my line continues. I'm not sure how it happened, but one day mum took me to one side and told me that one day she would be taken from us and I'd have to protect you, no matter what." Lightning smiled grimly. "She said I couldn't possibly understand at the time and wrote me a letter explaining all of this for me to open when I was older."

"But what about Serah? And the baby? They're part of your family too, aren't they in danger too." Fang was taking the news that her girlfriend had a homicidal fal'Cie after her blood and the blood of her family.

Lightning sighed and ran a hand through her hair, before flicking it back into place. "That's why I have to go, to stop this now and get Serah out of danger before the baby is born."

"Okay." Lightning and Fang turned to look at Serah, mouths agape.

"What? I was expecting to have to pretty much wrestle you to be able to go, and you are just saying 'okay'." Lightning threw her arms up in the air. "I had a proper argument planned in my head, and I prepared myself for a massive fight, but noooo. Now Serah decides to be reasonable."

"Look, I know you aren't going to be dissuaded Claire. You're going to go anyway, it may as well be with my blessing. Do what you have to do Claire, and come back safe." Serah slung her arms around her sister's shoulders and pulled her into a hug.

Fang smirked. "What, no farewell for me?"

Her smile grew wider when Serah walked over to her. That smile was knocked of her face by the explosive slap Serah launched. "Don't let anything happen to my sister."

Fang looked at the younger sister, who was now a splitting image of Lightning when she was angry. It was unnerving, and kind of hot. "What was that for?"

"So you remember."

\Memories/

Lightning insisted that they leave right away, something Fang was unsure about but agreed to. She said she didn't want to go through telling everyone they were going, because then they'd want to come or try and stop them. This way was just better for everyone.

"So…where is The Doorway?" Fang asked as she pulled her pack onto her shoulders. They decided to travel light, so both of their packs had the bare minimum of what they would need. A small amount of food, water bottles, a change of clothes and a first aid kit.

Lightning carefully unclipped her shoulder pad from her Guardian Corps jacket and laid it reverently on the bed. She then put the jacket on and connected all the straps. "According to my dream, it was at the base of Cocoon somewhere, so we should look around there."

Next she slipped her feet into her boots and pusher her feet down until they hit the soles. The buckles snapped into place, binding the leather of the boot to her calves. The boots were peculiar in the fact that they were nearly as much metal as they were leather. The toes were metal as were the heels. Thin strips of steel ran up the key parts of the boot, hidden by the leather. Fang had been in for a nasty surprise one night on Gran Pulse whilst sparing with the soldier after disarming Lightning, only to receive a knock out kick to the jaw.

Fang tied her leather straps off at her knee. "Are you sure we should be doing this, Light?"

"Would you do anything less than this to save Vanille?" Lightning countered, a dark smile on her face. She already knew the answer. They returned to silence as they finished getting ready for what would undoubtedly be a long trial that would test their very resolve.

"Are you ready?"

"No." A pregnant pause. "But let's do this anyway."

\Memories/

"So, are we actually going to do this?" Fang asked looking up at her former prison. That thing had held her for four months until excavation teams hoping to find anything of value accidentally shattered the crystal holding her and Vanille. The warrior turned to the woman next to her. "Light? Hey, Light?"

"Sorry, what?"

Fang poked Lightning in the shoulder. "You looked like you were having second thoughts about this. We don't have to do this."

"You're right. _We_ don't." Fang let out a sigh of relief. "I do. Go home Fang." Fang choked and looked at Lightning for any sign that she was joking. There was only the blank mask that had rested on Lightning's face during the majority of their journey.

"No. I already nearly lost you once, Light. I'm not going to have to go through that again." Fang shook with anger at the way Lightning had attempted to brush her off. The two women locked eyes, as they had done many times during their journey. Between them, a battle of wills was silently raged. Lightning broke first, her eyes dropping to the floor.

"I'm sorry, I just don't want to see you get hurt, Fang."

Fang smiled and pulled the soldier into a one armed hug, before ruffling her hair. "That's so sweet, Claire-bear. But I'll be fine, especially if I have you watching my back. So, are we going to do this?" She asked, the certainty in her voice rising.

Lightning took her hand and squeezed gently. Still holding Fang's hand, Lightning walked to the crystal pillar and pressed her hand against the gleaming monument that Ragnarok created. Up close, if you looked at the way the crystal had been formed, it did look as if someone had carved an elaborate doorway into the pillar. The moment Lightning's hand touched the cold diamond, it seemed to become ethereal and the delicate hand passed straight through.

\Memories of a Dream/

Cold. It was cold here. But still it burned her skin where it touched the floor she lay on.

Lightning's eyes opened, regardless of her headache, and quickly scanned the area for potential threats. She was eagle spread on a white stone path, where the slabs were laid so perfectly that there was no gap between them. Gently she pulled herself into a sitting position, using her gunblade as a makeshift crutch.

_Something's wrong_, she thought. Aloud, she called out "Fang?"

There was no reply, not even the echo of her own voice, so she tried again. "Hey Fang! Can you hear me?"

"She cannot hear you. Not now." Lightning whipped her head around to the direction of the source of the voice. At the sight she rolled backwards, the moment her feet touched the ground she kicked and launched herself.

"Who are you?" She asked, punctuating the end of her sentence with the snap of her gunblade snapping into its sword form.

"Isn't it obvious?" The voice said. "I'm you."

It was true. There, stood with more nonchalance than Lightning could ever muster, was another Lightning. This doppelganger smiled softly and offered her hand in greeting. Lightning simply glared at the offending hand, and then allowed her eyes to roam over the peculiar armour the other Lightning wore. Silver and form fitting, it looked like a second skin covering nearly her entire body, right down to the little details like the bellybutton piercing and the scar on her right flank from when she fell out of the tree years ago. Begrudgingly she took the stranger's hand and gave it a quick jerk that could possibly have passed for a handshake.

"Sergeant Lightning Farron." She said simply.

"Same, but you can call me Sacrifice." The other Lightning said, with a slight smirk.

Lightning raised an eyebrow. "Why Sacrifice?"

Sacrifice waved her hand airily. "Just a little reference to something I did back in my reality. Nothing major."

"Let me guess. Due to a string of events you had no choice but to sacrifice yourself instead of Fang and Vanille to crystallise Cocoon?" Lightning guessed.

Sacrifice laughed a little at the bold question. "Spot on. We really are observant aren't we? Now I expect you have many questions, but we don't have much time."

Lightning's eyebrow shot up. "What do you mean we don't have much time?" Then it hit her. Guilt wrecked her for not realising sooner. "Where's Fang?"

"That is why we need to hurry."

\Memories of a Dream/

Fang's head felt like a herd of behemoths was running over it, pounding at her skull mercilessly. If anyone made a loud noise, there was a high chance that Fang's brain would explode out of her nose and ears and coat where ever she was in pink goo.

"Finally decided to wake up have you?" A voice said softly in her ear, but there was no one there when Fang turned her head to look. Searching the room with only her eyes was difficult, seeing as the entire room was shades of black. Not greys and blacks, but actual different shades of black. Eventually the emerald orbs settled on a familiar figure standing so that they were facing away from her.

"Lightning, is that you?"

\Memories of a Dream/


	3. Back in the Saddle Again

Lightning had never run so fast in her life. Not when she had seen Serah lying on the cold carved floor of the Pulse Vestige that had housed Anima. Not when she had literally fought for her life and those of her ragtag family against a being infinitely stronger than her.

But now someone had Fang.

_Her Fang_

Someone was going to pay.

Beside her, Sacrifice was barely able to keep up despite the fact that she was able to float along. "Lightning! Slow down!" She cried, silently cursing the fact her heavy armour was slowing her down.

Lightning didn't hear her, or just ignored her companion. Instead she was focused on the pounding of her boots on the uneven pathway that made up this twisted realm. A snarl was affixed to her face as the Beast rose within her.

The Beast. The name she had given to the primal urge inside her that drove her to fight and fight. That howling voice in the back of her mind that forced her to hit and hit long after the life had bled out of her victim. It had to be reined in, chained until she was ready to release its fury on the world. And now it pulled at the chains that held it back, bashing itself at the mental wall she maintained. Lightning both loved and feared the Beast. It alone gave her the strength to protect Serah. It alone forced her to keep moving long after even Fang had given up. It was the pain. The anger. The bloodlust. It was the Beast.

\Memories of a Dream/

"Who are you?" Fang repeated, pulling at her bindings. Her emerald eyes were narrowed at the imposter that stood before her.

It looked like Lightning. It sounded like Lightning. It moved like Lightning.

But it wasn't Lightning. It was too old, too decrepit to be the woman she loved. "Tell me!" She screamed. That voice had been the last thing many Cocoon soldiers had heard, bellowing wordless promises of pain and agony at her hand. It made Platoons tremble and Behemoths cower, but the imposter didn't even flinch.

"I'm so sorry." Came the whispered reply. "I didn't mean for it to be this way."

\Memories of a Dream/

Silence. That was the first thing Snow noticed. There was no noise beside him. No deep intake of slumberous breath, nor the quick bursts of a nightmare. Gently he rolled over onto his side, careful in case Serah was there. He didn't want to crush her under the immense bulk of his frame.

That side of the bed had been carefully remade, the duvet pulled up tightly and the pillows plumped and placed on top.

Snow swung his legs out from under the pale pink covers, his feet resting in the warm, thick carpet. He was thankful that they had been able to salvage so much from Cocoon for use down here on Pulse, otherwise they wouldn't have anything that could be called 'civilised'. Pulling his mind from the uncharacteristic thoughtfulness, he slid out of the bed and picked up a discarded t-shirt from the floor and slipped it on. Moments later he was slinking down the stairs, careful to avoid the squeaky seventh one down. The stairs took him down to the hall facing the door. On his left was the door to the kitchen. On the right was the living room. If he were to turn around he would be able to see the cupboard under the stairs and the downstairs bathroom.

Slight sounds could be heard from the living room. Snow laid his massive paw-like hand on the polished wood of the door and pressed. Quickly he stuck his head inside, scraggy blonde hair falling into his face.

Inside Serah was curled up on the sofa, sleepless cerulean eyes staring at the rain splattered window. Snow sighed and stepped inside. This was the fifth night in a row he had found her like this, unfocused eyes peering out into the blackness. "Serah? Honey?"

She didn't make any indication that she had heard him, except for a single blink. He crouched next to her and took her hand in his own. "Serah, please come up to bed."

He heard a little snort that sounded similar to a quiet 'no'. He steeled himself and sat down next to her, childlike hand clutched in his own paw. He knew about this, a childhood habit to wait up for her sister. He couldn't get Lightning home any sooner, but he could do this. He pulled Serah to his chest, smiling as she snuggled up to him. He slowly ran his fingers through her candyfloss hair, marvelling at the unique colour. Seconds later, his smile widened at the soft snoring that was emanating from his wife.

\Memories of a Dream/

Fang shivered when the cool blade was placed against her skin, but she refused to show any fear. She was a Yun warrior. She would not dishonour her clan by showing weakness. The knife glinted in the meagre light as it ran down her skin, bringing up goose pimples where it touched. It came to rest near the bindings that held her down.

A tear rolled down her cheek, but it was not her own. Another tear fell from her captor's cerulean eyes and hit Fang's cheek. "I never meant for it to be this way Fang. I'm sorry I had to do this."

Fang's captor shifted the knife and Fang gasped as the honed blade drew blood from her wrist.

\Memories of a Dream/

Lightning willed herself to go faster, ignoring the burning of her limbs. Sacrifice had pointed out the correct portal to her and she had dived through with no hesitation. Not she was running through row upon row of carefully arranged stones. They stretched as far as the eye could see, little grey thumbs poking out of the ground. At the edge of her vision had been a cathedral like building, ruined with age. It was much closer now; she could see lights flickering in the grimy stained glass window.

With practiced ease she stepped onto one of the stones, using it as a step to launch herself into the air. Her other foot connected with a leafless tree, the bark cracking under her weight. She pushed herself upwards, soaring towards the top of the tree. The Beast roared in her head and she kicked at the trunk with both feet, cracking the brittle tree down the middle. Twisting in the air, her steel soled boots smashed through the stained glass. That had all happened in a second.

Instinct kicked in and she rolled to lessen the impact. Her boots crushed the glass underfoot as she pounced, drawing her gunblade and sliding it between the ribs of the woman stood with a knife to _her _Fang in one movement. Her arm ripped back and she stabbed again and again, the Beast calling for blood.

The blood rage subsided when Fang grabbed her arm and heaved her off the lifeless corpse. "Lightning! What in the name of Etro is wrong with you?"

The soldier looked around the chapel. A stone table sat in the centre of the room with four leather straps, one in each corner, upon it. One had been sliced open, by the woman, the others had been unbuckled. Quivering, she wrapped her arms around Fang suddenly, noticing the small cut on the inside of Fang's wrist. "Fang." She murmured into the taller woman's shoulder. "I thought I lost you."

"You ain't getting rid of me that easy, Sunshine."

"I woke up and you weren't there and I was scared and I had to find you and I thought you were hurt an…" A long finger was placed on Lightning's lips, silencing her abruptly.

"I'm here, Light. I'm here." They slumped to the floor, managing to avoid any blood or glass, still holding each other. Fang held Lightning tightly when the Cocoonian started to rack with sobs.

\Memories of a Dream/

AN

Hello.

Yes. I've been gone a while. But I'm back. I could demean you, my loyal readers, by giving you excuses…BUT NO! I respect you too much and so am just going to say sorry for keeping you waiting and we will just move on.

I'm sure there were some reviews I should be replying to, but I'll do it in the next chapter.

Well, that's it.

There's nothing else to see here.

Read the next chapter.

Shoo!

PS. Read Tainted fal'Cie by Tear of Light. A very good read, even if you haven't read the prequel. Plus she's an awesome person. So go read that as well.


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